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The Town Boom Years in Southeastern Colorado 1886-1889: A Map
Sometimes it is hard to understand old forgotten towns. Especially since we don’t always know where they are located in relationship to present day landmarks and towns. The map in this post contains the towns which popped up in the area as well as towns that were connected. For example, many settlers rode the train…
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Tributaries of Baca County by Dr. Bill Stoner
We have all heard the cry: “Two Buttes is Running!” or “Bear Creek is Running!” When I was a young boy I often wondered how such a little creek in my own neighborhood (Bear Creek) could occasionally usher so much water. At the time, I was not aware of the tremendous infrastructure that produced the…
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German POWs in Baca County: “Many Thanks to Mr. Schroeder from his Broomcorn Crew”
Conversations on our Baca County Facebook groups about German POWs led me to look a little deeper into that topic. I will aggregate some of those conversations here and add a bit more. A report from Metro State University in Denver tells us that during World War II, a series of Prisoner of War (POW)…
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A Cowboy’s Story: Fred Hollister
November 19 , 2017 Update to the original October 26, 2017 post: Thank you, Kathy Maestas, for the paintings of Fred and Fannie Hollister (see below) it makes the story of this cowboy so much better! Addendum to the Original October 27 Post: I stopped by to see my Uncle Harold today and took him a…
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The Last J.J. Steer
UPDATED: March 29, 2020- In the American west, it was common practice for early large cattle operations to file on only parcels of land that contained access to water. This allowed those operations to control a great deal of the public domain land. The J.J. Ranch was founded in 1869. By 1879 the JJ controlled…
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Blanchat: by Dr. Bill Stoner
NOTES: This post enhances a previous post: “An Old Stone Schoolhouse in Springfield” If you recall Joseph Blanchat was a stonemason who helped build that building. The article below was posted first in the Plainsman Herald awhile back. Thanks, Bill for the work on this. I have added a few artifacts supporting this article.…
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2017 Baca County Fair: Early Baca County History Presentations
Steve and I would encourage you to bring maps, clippings, and stories that will add to the database of information about places all over the area of what is now called Baca County. Very excited to get the chance to share a few more tidbits about early Baca County Colorado History.
